Give Me Your Name
by Would You Hurry It Up
Summary: The adventure to save the world comes with the weight of morals and love. Should personal desire outweigh the need of the world? Total Sheloyd, perhaps more along the way. REVIEW!
1. Prologue: Bright Lights

**Hi, and thanks for having the patience to read my boring intro! This is my first time writing a fanfic, but I think it turned out ok… Anyways, its mainly focused on Lloyd and Sheena's relationship during the original game, but in the way I thought I should have been done and in a whole different way from the original, but not drifting too far from the plot. Also, even though Tales of Symphonia is awesome, I may have re-did a scene or two and added some things of my own. Guess that's why they call it a fanfic.**

**Thanks and enjoy!**

**Prologue: ****Bright Lights**

_Lloyd could only watch in horror as the tragedy took place. His home town, where all his memories of playing with his friends, mainly Genis and Colette, was being burned to the ground. He could hear the screams, the cries of agony, and the fear the atmosphere of horror gave to everyone around him. And he could do nothing._

_The Desians, a group of half-elves determined to cause suffering to all, had attacked the village of Iselia. They obviously overpowered the village's militia. Most of these simple farmers and shopkeepers died minutes after the attack started. Lloyd could see that not everyone was killed; a large group of townsfolk could be seen being gathered by the Desians into the center of town. Somehow, this didn't make Lloyd feel any better about the situation. _

_Lloyd was standing just outside of his school, where surprisingly no Desians lurked. They must have been driven back, or perhaps they didn't care to attack the structure. It was only through a miracle that Lloyd was not seen by anybody. Lloyd could see through the windows that some people took refuge under the school desks and bookshelves. Outside the door was a single guard, perhaps the last militia man, shaking like a leaf going through a tornado. The guard was probably not best suited to defend these people, but Lloyd felt admiration toward the man, this fearful and traumatized man who, despite the doom that was coming towards him, still stood his post._

"_Damn!? Isn't there anything anyone can do!?" Lloyd thought with a sense of longing, pain, and the anger of a wild bear. He would have moved, done anything to save these people, but he was stuck in place, not out of fear, but chained to the ground. Lloyd could see nothing was holding his legs in place, but for some inexplicable reason, he couldn't move. And he was angry about it._

_Two figures appeared within the villagers, but because of the smoke the houses in front of Lloyd gave off and the crowding together of the villagers, he could barely see them. Now he saw the leader of the Desian brigade that attacked this village. The man had pointed ears, like his friend Genis, so Lloyd concluded he was an elf. The man also had medium length blue hair and wore different attire than his comrades, probably signifying his importance among them. The most interesting thing about this man was his golden arm. "What could that be for?" Lloyd's eyes were taken off by this strange appendage when a huge monster appeared, held in place by a group of Desian foot soldiers. _

"_They wouldn't use that thing to kill everyone…would they?" Lloyd found himself thinking. He didn't think too long on it; the monster was released, to Lloyd's horror, but the two figures he saw step in front of the crowd defended the innocent people. This made Lloyd feel a tad bit better. Those two figures could hold their own and fought with great teamwork, one with magic and the other with…two swords. "Two swords, just like me. Who could that be?" Lloyd pondered intently over this until he saw a group of fifteen Desians dash out from behind him. _

_Lloyd could see them running towards him, bloodlust in their eyes. They must have circled the village to find any survivors or anybody trying to escape. Lloyd, with more motivation than ever before, tried moving to get into a better position to face these monsters, but couldn't move an inch. Realizing he could still fight without moving, if only for a little while, he reached for his swords. "What!?" he thought, seeing that instead of swords he had two empty scabbards. Not that two wooden swords would have helped against moving, well equipped Desians. _

"_Damn it; I can't die! Not here, not now!"_

_To Lloyd's shock, the Desians just ran past him and towards the school. "What the…can they not see me or something" It was as if they hadn't even seen him, as if Lloyd was a ghost. For some reason, this made Lloyd even madder than he was before, and he screamed in hatred at them to face him. They ignored him, either not hearing him or not wanting to listen, and slowed down as they approached the school building. The militia man was shaking now, but he held them back for a time, mainly because the Desian derived sadistic pleasure from the terror their presence gave him. The Desians laughed with joy at the poor man's attempts to keep them back, laughing as each lunge he took at them missed by a mile. They overpowered him easily, both in speed and strength; their Exspheres giving them a vile advantage against the man with a rake._

_The next event happened quite quickly and took Lloyd by surprise. Lloyd's Exsphere shown brilliantly and seconds later an explosion of smoke appeared before him, and when dissipated, showed the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen (well, at least in the village, as he had never ventured beyond Iselia, save for when he traveled to his home in the nearby woods). She had purple hair put into a spiky pony tail and an outlandish purple robe. Her figure was flawless and her beauty put Lloyd into a bit of a shock. What probably set him off most was that she had appeared only inches away from Lloyd's face and caused him to blush in shock and admiration. Lloyd noticed she also wore an Exsphere, hers bravely in the open unlike the rag that covered his. Her eyes were gorgeous as well, shining like a full __Tethe'alla__ moon, but Lloyd could see they were filled with rage and fury. _

_Lloyd saw her attack the Desians from the shadows with strangely colored…how should he put this…cards. Cards that exploded on impact. He saw her throw one of her cards into the air, exploding into another poof and revealing an interesting monster that looked like an ancient bird with a . She attacked with vicious efficiency and before a minute had passed, all the Desians lied dead at her feet. Both Lloyd and the militia man stood in wide-eyed admiration; she was like an angel of death, bringing the cold embrace of oblivion in a moment's glance. The militia man was dumb-struck, but Lloyd felt more. Thankfulness, admiration, a touch of fear, and love…"Wait!? What am I thinking!?" Lloyd thought, blushing a dark shade of red and almost forgetting his village was under attack. _

_As the lady was about to speak to the militia man, a bright light exploded from the town square. Lloyd saw everyone, including this purple haired savior, look into the light. She was the last thing Lloyd saw as he suddenly passed out. _

________________________________________________________________________

"Lloyd Irving, wake up!"

"Lloyd!"

A lightning fast chalkboard eraser made contact with Lloyd's head, causing him to wake up and almost fall over. The classroom exploded in laughter as Lloyd muttered "Professor Raine…eh, is class over." Raine rolled her eyes and continued with her lesson.

"I was sleeping the entire time!? But it felt so real…as if that event really happened. How did I even fall asleep standing in the back of the class holding these buckets of water?" Lloyd couldn't believe he dreamed that. He looked out the class window; the village was bustling as the townspeople went from place to place. "Its like they never knew what happened…like it never happened."

Lloyd knew he should feel glad. The people were safe. The Desians never attacked Iselia, violating the non-aggression treaty. But instead, Lloyd felt an incredible sense of sadness when he knew he shouldn't. The woman in his dreams…she did not exist. She had been a figment of his imagination. In return for the safety of the people, he would never see anybody like her again…

"NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!" Lloyd thought loudly to himself, startling the whole class. Colette, the Chosen one and one of his best friends, had stood up to answer a question Raine had presented to her. Genis, the obvious prodigy and best student in class as well as another one of Lloyd's friends, looked at his friend in shock and pity as his sister Raine cast a glaring, soul piercing look onto Lloyd.

"So Lloyd, you have another explanation as to why mana depletion is occurring throughout the world?" Raine never liked her knowledge being threatened by others, especially uneducated students. Especially Lloyd.

"Ummm…" Lloyd mumbled when in a lucky burst of heat his Exsphere started to glow beneath the rags on his hand. "Wow, what incredible luck! Oh wait, what's going on?" Everyone looked in awe as it shined brightly for a few minutes before dimming down.

"Lloyd, what did..." Genis began to ask as suddenly another sentence interrupting light began to shine outside the school. The light of the Oracle.

"What's with all the strange things happening today; first that dream, and now my Exsphere shines on the day of the Oracle. Something weird is going on." Lloyd thought later when the classroom was unattended. Raine had gone off to see what was going on, and everyone was ordered to stay in the classroom, even Colette, who had to wait for the priests. "Should I tell Genis about my dream…nah, he'll just laugh at me and scold me for sleeping in his sister's class. Wait a minute!" Lloyd had a revelation!

In his dream, his Exsphere glowed brightly seconds before the mysterious woman appeared before him. For some reason, the orb on top of his hand had been like a signal that shinned when she appeared. Maybe she was nearby, outside of the classroom at this very second! Waiting for Lloyd to reveal himself to her.

"No Lloyd, get a hold of yourself. There's no way she's out there, heck, she probably doesn't exist. It was all a figment of your imagination." But even as he said this, he didn't believe himself. Forces and thoughts beyond his control urged him to go outside and look for the mysterious woman. Lloyd was being illogical but he never felt surer of himself. Making sure that he had his swords this time, he started to walk out of the classroom.

"Lloyd, don't tell me you're going outside!" Genis lectured to his friend. "Umm, I'm really curious to see what happens during the Oracle. I've always wondered what really goes on, you know?" "Good excuse Lloyd" he thought to himself. Genis still didn't want him to go. He didn't blame him. Lloyd was pretty reckless and what he went to set out to do was anything but smart. But Lloyd insisted. "Sigh…you wanna come along too? We're best friends after all." Lloyd exclaimed, trying hard to hold back his annoyance. Its not like Lloyd didn't like Genis; far from it. They were as closer in friendship than even most brothers. But Lloyd thought that he should see the woman alone, for some reason. Jealousy?

"Nah."

Genis loosened up after that, conveniently ceasing to argue with Lloyd. "Okay Lloyd, if only to keep you out of trouble. Hey, lets bring Colette along too!" Lloyd sighed. "Great, more people. I'm never gonna find this lady. Guess I should have seen this coming though" Colette overheard them, and was, reluctantly, invited by Lloyd. "Okay! Where to?" Lloyd hadn't really thought about that, but seeing that the Oracle light flashed right after his Exsphere shinned, he thought it could not be a coincidence. "Wow! I never usually think this hard about anything. Weird…"

"We're going to the temple; where else?"

A brilliant flash rose in the middle of this seemingly innocent piece of land, presenting a purple-clad warrior in its place. Miles away from any village or town, nobody noticed the arrival of the assassin. "Good. The less eyes upon me, the better." The assassin looked around. This place looked just like Tethe'alla, but then again, the assassin was in the plains. The silent killer knew how to survive in most places, and this was no exception. Despite coming to a new world with no visit prior, the assassin knew much about Sylvarant due to consistant research and debriefing on the important mission the killer had been sent to do. The assassin had been sent to the world of Sylvarant the day before the coming of the Oracle in order to stop what would likely be the appocalypse to her people.

The assassin's furry companion, a summon spirit, also looked longingly at this new place, wonder in its eyes. "So where do we go to first?" it squeaked excitedly. It was as if he didn't know this was a mission to specifically kill someone. To take the life of one in order to save the assassin's world of millions.

The assassin, or a ninja as they were called, had come into Sylvarant to kill the Chosen of Regeneration, the one that would disturb the ninja's world. The ninja was reluctant; "Killing has never been one of my favorite things to do…sigh, why did they send me?". The ninja knew though; it was to be redeemed for an event long past. An event that still efected the ninja after many years have passed.

The summon spirit looked at the ninja worriedly and asked "Are you okay Sheena?".

"Yeah, of course. Lets get started."

**Man, that was pretty fun to write! Please review so I know I have some type of audience out there. **

**Stay tuned; more chapters to come; at least one every 3-5 days, maybe sooner if I have nothing else to do.**


	2. Chapter 1: Tracking

**And the story gets going! Also, I was pleasantly surprised that this game had a manga series of it and I read most of it on my PSP while heading to Phoenix, Arizona (Christmas Shopping!). Anyways, I found out Sheena's Exsphere is on her heart, located below the left…ahem, asset. Anyways, you guys probably already know that, but just saying if others don't know and to correct my mistake from the last chapter.**

**Without further ado, heeeeeeere we go!**

**Chapter 1: Tracking**

"Iselia is just to the north of here, probably a three days travel on foot." the inn owner told the hooded woman who was checking out after only being at the inn for a few hours. "Thank you." the lady muttered before quickly disappearing out of the inn and onto the streets of Triet. The city was unusually crowded and noisy today as the people rushed to get their daily chores accomplished and prepare for the inevitable arrival of the Chosen. It was well known to the people of the desert city that the temple only miles away from their city was probably the Seal of Fire, a destination needed for the Chosen to accomplish the journey of world regeneration. Therefore, the people completed their daily tasks so as to prepare a proper welcome for the one who would save them all from the strong hold the Desians had on their city. "They cheer with open optimism, despite the frequent Desian in the city." Sheena thought solemnly. She wondered how the Desians punished these wishful thinkers, and put her hand to her heart as she thought about the strength these people had and their strong belief in the one who would save them, a belief that was the hooded woman's duty to crush.

Sheena had quickly come to the desert city upon landing in Sylvarant, noticing the out of place oasis in the middle of the scorching desert. The severe heat made Sheena feel more insecure about the world she was on then before. "Thank Martel that Tethe'alla doesn't have scorching landscapes as this one does." Sheena had always either lived in Mizuho, the secret village of ninjas, or traveled to Meltokio to conduct some sort of business for the royal family, so she was trained to handle severe weather that might have drifted in from the vast ocean that split their village apart. However, Sheena was ill-equipped with handling the constant fiery weather that was the ocean of sand. "The faster I leave this place, the better!"

The ninja of Mizuho had learned from various reports that the Chosen of Sylvarant lived in the village of Iselia just to the north of Triet. No further landscapes lied to the north of that place, as well as no seaside ports near the village, so Sheena could be almost completely positive that the Chosen would head to Triet for her first stop. "I could just laze around while waiting for her to come to me!" Sheena thought, but she knew that would be the last thing she would do. The sun was too much for her and caused her mind to be sluggish in the heat. This would cause her to lose focus if she ever got in a battle and would be a severe weakness in the fight that would surely arrive if she confronted the Chosen head-on, as Sheena could bet the Chosen would have one heck of a security team. "I bet they're really big, monstrous looking soldiers with battle axes or cataclysmic, humongous two-handed swords of DEATH!" Sheena thought with a slight smile of mischief. If they were, they would be slow and easy to "defeat". People constantly think that size means power when really speed is the ultimate element of death.

After gathering some supplies from the nearby vender, Sheena decided to leave the village and head towards Iselia. "The less heat the better…"

Once out of eyesight from any passing travelers, Sheena changed from the hooded rags that were her "disguise" into her ninja fighting attire. "I feel so much more comfortable in this than those rags the chief gave me." The assassin made a silent vow to not change out of these clothes for the remainder of the trip; she would wear her village symbol with pride, not in secrecy.

"Are you ready Corrine?" Sheena asked with a slight smile on her face. Due to her Exsphere's power enhancements, which her village centered their training regiments on, Sheena could easily run miles within seconds! "Let's see…three days travel on a regular traveler's foot means I could reach Iselia before nightfall!" Sheena thought excitedly. This mission would be over before she knew it!

A small poof of smoke appeared in front of Sheena, revealing her best friend and technically her first real summon spirit Corrine. "Wow Sheena, you really are excited! Yeah, lets go!"

They began their race through the desert, dashing faster than the wind. They ran in leaps to conserve energy, jumping at least a quarter of a mile with each step. Any traveler they would pass would only see a purple blur that quickly grew out of sight with each half second of staring. Sheena loved to run like this; it gave her a sense of freedom like she never felt before and made her feel stronger than the world. In this place of pure speed, there were no angry eyes glaring at her, no hateful glare sprawling to her face.

She was truly free and so lost in the moment, that the assassin didn't notice that her Exsphere was shining brightly, making her look like a shooting star soaring through the night.

"Man, what a day!" Lloyd thought as he walked the trail back to his father's house.

Lloyd had went to the temple with his friends to see the Oracle in action, which in turn made Lloyd fight against multiple Desians who had attacked the temple in search of the Chosen. Lloyd also met Kratos, a tall red-headed mercenary whose attitude could best be described, in Lloyd's opinion, as smug, judgmental, solemn, and a total show-off (or in his case, "show-up", because that's exactly what the mercenary did when fighting, putting Lloyd's skills to shame". Lloyd also fought even more Desians when walking with his pal Genis through a human ranch. Genis had made friends with an old prisoner there named Marble. Marble was caught talking with the two (Lloyd was also present), however, and caused Lloyd to attack the guards that were whipping Marble and lose them by jumping off a massive cliff. Lloyd was okay though, as his Exsphere allowed him to do crazy maneuvers such as jumping off cliffs several stories high.

Despite having his adrenaline battery being used up completely and knowing he did many good things that day, Lloyd couldn't help but feel disappointed that he didn't see the woman of his dreams. He looked high and low for her, even going through every inch of the temple to find her (ended up annoying the group, however). The swordsman was almost positive that she would have showed up when Marble was being attacked. Lloyd almost saw this woman as a super hero; a vigilante who took out the Desians who were the plague on society!

"It was a dream Lloyd; nothing else. Just live in the present…but the dream was so real…I refuse to believe she is fake!" Lloyd thought, his usual determined spirit getting leverage over rationality. Lloyd now saw his house in the clearing, and quickened his pace. He still had to ask his father Dirk for a key crest to give to Marble; he wondered what he would use as an excuse. Hopefully he wouldn't tell his father about the day's events.

"Aw well, maybe I'll see her tomorrow."

"Here we are…" Sheena thought solemnly. The assassin had passed ranging deserts and miles of plains to reach Iselia just after sunset. She could see the town wearing down after the events of the Oracle. For some reason, quite a few burial ceremonies were being held , as if somebody had died on this supposedly happy day. Sheena then looked to the west, where she could make out the figure of a human ranch. "A ranch!" Sheena exclaimed; she had never seen one before, save for reports on them by Mizuho scouts. They were supposed to be like P.O.W. camps, except the Desians brought innocent people into them instead of enemy soldiers. The only purpose these places seemed to have was for the suffering and the continued hard labor of innocent villagers.

"And because of what I am about to do, their suffering will continue." Sheena thought. It was at this point that Sheena began to doubt the point of this assassination. Why should these people suffer so my world can live. Is a sacrifice of one world all that her people could do. Surely there was some other way, a way where no innocent people had to die and everybody could be happy…

"NO! Stop with this wishful thinking Sheena! This is the burden you most bear to save everyone. Block out your emotions, block out your emotions…" Sheena continued to repeat to herself, knowing full well she couldn't. Sheena had too many free-spirited thoughts in her head; "Another weakness of mine." Sheena thought.

It was at this point Sheena saw a group of four individuals walking out of the village and towards the forest with the human ranch. "Oh no! Are those people idiots!? They must me crazy brave to go anywhere near there!" Sheena thought with admiration and shock. "Wait, who would be so crazy as to walk right past the human ranch…the Chosen!"

Sheena quickly gathered her things and followed the group through the thick woods. The assassin observed each one carefully, trying to determine who the savior of this world was. Her eyes first went to a small boy with silver wild hair. The silver boy had a kendama – "Why was he bringing a toy with him?" – and standing fairly in the back, so Sheena ruled him out as a possibility. If he was indeed a bodyguard for the Chosen, Sheena couldn't see what combat abilities the boy would use on an enemy. "Perhaps he would wow the enemy with outstanding kendama skills!" Sheena thought, holding back her chuckle at her pleasant thought.

The ninja then spotted another silver haired person, only this one was a woman, probably in her 20's by the looks of it, with a crude wooden staff. "She must be the wise woman of the group." Sheena observed, making a small note to take her out first if she got into a fight with the whole group, as she looked like a healer.

Next was a tall, strong red-haired man carrying a single sword and wearing a full purple outfit (mercenary attire in this world). The man held himself up with complete composure and looked to be like the muscle of the group. Despite only wearing a simple sword at his side, he seemed to be capable of more feats than swinging a piece of metal. "Tethe'alla's Chosen could use magic as well as fight; perhaps this man could too." Sheena thought. The assassin felt a slight ping of fear; she would let one of her Guardians take care of this man.

Last was a petite, long haired blond girl being practically in the center of all of them. She wore all white with blue leggings and sported two chakrams for weapons. "Interesting. Fighting with those weapons is a very rare fighting style. I haven't seen anybody use weapons like that ever." Sheena would be wary of this girl if a fight broke out; Sheena wasn't trained to defend against flying rings, mainly magic, close quarter arms, and the occasional arrow or two. The blond girl was the top candidate for being the Chosen in Sheena's opinion, as the girl looked so heavenly and pure. Then again, all her information said was that the Chosen was in Iselia. Strangely enough, the gender wasn't specified and neither was the appearance. And Sheena knew that appearances could be deceiving; "Tethe'alla's Chosen is a womanizing pervert, so the one here could be anybody!"

Sheena would keep her eyes open.

The strange group of people came to a house just past the human ranch, conspicuously away from the village. "Hmm, the Chosen's sister Seles was placed in a desolate house, perhaps the Chosen of this world is located outside of society as well." Sheena thought as the group approached the door. For some reason, they all looked at each other, save for the man that stared at the outside tombstone, and looked rather awkward. Suddenly the door burst open, revealing an older boy in complete red and blue pants. The boy and the small group had a small discussion, out of Sheena's range of hearing, before the boy went to the gravestone with the older man. Sheena really couldn't make out the boy's appearance, but from behind the tall man and the boy looked remarkably similar. "Relatives perhaps?" Sheena noted to herself.

The boy than went to an upstairs terrace with the small blond girl, making Sheena feel a ping of jealousy for some reason. The assassin had never met the boy, but for some reason she felt close to him, as if he were a long lost relative. Their talk was brief, to Sheena's relief (for whatever reason), and the small group left shortly after. Instead of following the group, the assassin decided to observe the older boy, thinking he might be the Chosen she had been searching for. Creeping slowly through the treetops, Sheena steadily found a tree that was closest to the boy's terrace while hiding her among the tree's branches.

Getting a closer look, Sheena got a more complete view of the boy. He had spiky brown hair and a strange uniform of red and blue overalls, something the ninja had never seen before, even in Meltokio's crazy fashion styles. The boy also sported two swords, although she remarked that both weapons were made of wood. He also looked bigger up close, slightly taller than Sheena. The most stunning factor about him were his eyes, filled with endless ambition and confidence; the boy was stunning…Sheena had to snap herself back together. "Wh-what was I thinking!? I am not a perv like that Zelos is!" the ninja yelled to herself in her mind, outraged and shocked at what she was thinking.

She saw the "red" boy crafting a necklace (probably for that tiny blond girl) out of unique shapes of wood with a purple medallion in the middle. "The necklace would be considered very tacky back in Meltokio." Sheena thought suddenly in her mind with a flick of anger. The assassin saw the boy walk out onto the terrace, where he tripped over a loose floorboard, losing hold of the necklace and flinging it straight ahead: right at Sheena.

Lloyd heard a scream and a thump as he saw the necklace he was crafting for Colette smack somebody outside. "What the – oh crap!" Lloyd thought as he saw the unconscious body below the terrace. Lloyd quickly grabbed a first aid kit and jumped the terrace, landing right beside the unconscious figure. Without a second thought, the swordsman applied a couple of apple gels on the small gash on the woman's forehead. After the work was done, Lloyd took a look at this person and was shocked.

"No way! It's you!" Lloyd yelled before quickly closing his mouth. He looked back at his house and saw that his father Dirk was still sleeping, unaware that his boy accidentally knocked out a stranger. "Than again, what was she doing outside of my house in a tree? Maybe she's some sort of guardian angel or something." Lloyd thought, his conclusion making sense in his mind. He knew what the lady could do (according to his dream) and she DID appear near him. Lloyd took a closer look at the lady; she looked to be about Lloyd's age, if not slightly older, and had unquestionable beauty, even if she was knocked out.

Knowing he couldn't just leave her there, he carefully picked her up and brought her into the house. Dirk's house really didn't have any furniture, save for two beds, and one was being used by a tired dwarf. Realizing the only option he had, Lloyd blushed many shades of red as he placed the lady onto his bed. When Lloyd got the bashfulness out of his head, Lloyd quickly got a white rag and covered the bruise on her head with it, wrapping the strand around her carefully as if she would break or disappear if he went to fast. After that work was done, Lloyd got another blanket from downstairs and put it over the sleeping assassin. "It is really cold tonight…" Lloyd thought out of the side of his mind. Lloyd did feel sad that he had been the one to accidentally knock the lady out, but he felt happy that he at least knew that he wasn't crazy, that he wasn't out of touch with his instinct and his dream had been real. Lloyd was blissfully unaware that if she was real, so was the attack on Iselia.

Forgetting entirely about the necklace, Lloyd found a spot on the floor and went to sleep, a deep smile on his face.

**Sorry it took so long for these two cool characters to finally meet. Things are only going to heat up and get more exciting from here, so stay tuned; gonna have one more before Christmas!**

**Oh yeah, keep reviewing please!**


	3. Chapter 2: Soggy Omelets

**I know. I know. Its after Christmas, not before. Sorry, I really am! I will make the chapters more frequent from this point onward! Expect another one in a few hours from this one! **

**Seriously, no joke. Oh yeah, enjoy!**

**Chapter 2: Soggy Omelets**

"_Oh no, not again." Sheena thought sadly._

_She always had this dream and it always had the same mixture of feelings; horrible, regret, sadness, weakness, death, pain, fear, horror, and ultimately guilt. Ever since that day of her failure, Sheena had constantly had this nightmare. Sometimes she would be blessed enough to sleep to a different thought, but those experiences were few and far between. Sheena couldn't recall the last time she had a pleasant nap or peaceful thought in the land of infinite imagination._

_In this dream, Sheena was like a ghost. Nobody could see her and she could do nothing. No matter how desperately she wanted to try again, how she wanted to tell the young spirited girl in her dream to run home and hide in her room, her voice was ignored. It was like a continuous torture. Over and over again Sheena had to relive the absolute worst moment in her life, the moment where she would begin to be ostracized by her friends and neighbors. The moment when blame would be put onto her and she would feel nothing but guilt and pain. _

_The moment when Sheena first summoned._

_It always started the same; there Sheena was, with a wide grin on her face, accepting the people's belief and trust in her with open optimism. "If only you had known how quickly they would turn on you." Sheena thought bitterly. Then the dream would flash forward to the altar at the Temple of Lightning. She would often remember how frightened and scared she was because of the lightning all around her bashing and crashing constantly, breaking her concentration and loudly proclaiming that death was near. "Do not worry Sheena. Everything will be okay." the chief said to her reassuringly. If only he knew what would happen to him and the sweet little girl in the next few minutes. _

_If only he knew._

_Then, the little Sheena asked with tiny bravery to see the summon spirit Volt. She, and the village, knew that with her elven blood and natural talent, Sheena would be able to easily summon the lightning spirit. And he came, an orb of purple electricity with a dark core, inner claws, and two eyes; two soul crushing, dream breaking, black, hallow eyes. Then nothing came – she knew she should hear something, but only heard a murmur, a language unbeknownst to the little girl. And how could she know, she learned nothing about this language; not enough elf blood was in her veins to allow the language to be understood to her. Patiently waiting for a translation, none came, only the sound of monstrous bolts of lightning as they struck the chief and the ninjas that came with her. Sheena had heard that the village was attacked too, killing a quarter of the population. A quarter of one hundred – 25 innocent people…yet Sheena was spared. The chief, still alive and conscious, told Sheena to run, run away, "This pact is a FAILURE." he said. The chief was yelling, but she heard it as a whisper, shocked so suddenly of the countless deaths she had caused._

_This time was different._

_Among the dead, Sheena saw Corrine, her only real friend, motionless on the ground. But not the young Sheena, but the one forced to watch the massacre saw this and ran to her friend. The bodies started to disappear; everything disappeared except for Volt, Sheena, and Corrine. In the black abyss, the spiteful summon spirit began to charge a powerful bolt at Sheena, yet she could not move; chained in place. Even so, she wouldn't. The assassin felt too weak to move an inch, already overwhelmed by the sorrow of her biggest loss ever. _

_The charged energy began to fly at Sheena. All she could do now was wait for the pain. Time slowed down. Sheena looked down. Her heart began to shine, her Exsphere. She looked at Volt. In between her and Volt, a red-garbed man with a shining palm stood between her and the bolt of energy, dual swords being used as a defense against the pain. _

_And she heard him yell;_

"_Sheena!" _

Mornings in the Iselia Forest were normally breathtaking. The vast landscape of emerald treetops and curving hills caused the image to look like an artist's greatest work. Despite being in a forest, the weather was warm and bright, as if a beautifully embroidered blanket had covered the world with comfort. It almost made the residents forget that a human ranch lied just nearby.

Almost.

Sheena had always lived in the middle of nature, but her forest was usually cold and uncaring. The reputation about the horrors that lurked in the dark didn't help with making "the woods" anymore appealing. She proposed that that was probably the reason why her village was located at the other end of the dark woods. A perfect hiding spot in exchange for droopy scenery.

The ninja had been awake for a good hour now, just before the sun rose on the forest ground. She had the urge to watch as the dark of the night was slowly undone by the brightness of the sun. The sight soothed her, loosening her usually tight demeanor and putting the assassin in peace of mind. Watching the sun was always more comforting to her because her dreams constantly put her to a state of utter depression. For some reason unknown to her, Sheena felt more joy than misery upon waking up on this day.

The dream she had, the dream she always had, was different. She had always been alone in her dream and forced to lift the burden of her failure on her shoulders alone. This time, though, somebody stood up for her. A stranger didn't forsake her like others had. She didn't even know who HE was. But his voice captivated her and made the ninja feel like a love-stricken teenager. She had to find out who stood up for her, who saved her from Volt's burst of death and despair. The assassin didn't need to look far.

Sheena was so lost in her thoughts and daydreaming that she forgot how she found herself in a warm bed at what looked to be homely forest home. Now remembering her duty, the events of the past had slowly begun to reemerge from her mind. She was following who she thought was the Chosen to a house just outside of a village called Iselia. Not exactly knowing who the Chosen looked like or even the gender, she had stalked the group and the people of this house. As the ninja was watching the red-garbed boy, she saw him trip…and now here she was.

Quickly yet quietly, Sheena jumped out of her bed only to see the boy she had been stalking lying on the ground of the room she was in. The boy seemed to be in a deep slumber, not noticing when the ninja was inches away from his face to observe his characteristics. The boy was hardly younger than her, she figured, and looked quite attractive to boot. It was during this "observation" when Sheena noticed the large grin planted on his face, instantly putting her in a state of embarrassment and fury. For whatever reason, the assassin's mind was in the gutter, so to speak, and thought the boy had done more than just bring her onto his bed to rest. The color red always put Sheena in this state of mind, as it reminded her for a certain pervert that she knew back in her world. And the boy was covered with red.

Backing up slightly, Sheena soccer kicked the boy, knocking him onto the terrace and almost causing him to fall. Shocked and alert, the boy jumped up from the ground and reached for his sword, though stopping his action when he realized who had attacked him. The woman was not so compassionate however, as she ran up to him and held a card to his neck.

"What did you do to me!?" Sheena demanded. Lloyd didn't realize he did anything until he remembered that he did knock her out. "Of course she would be mad." He thought.

"Nothing! I mean, I did accidentally throw that necklace at you, but that's it! I promise!"

Lloyd's voice threw Sheena off balance. She had realized that this was him, the red-garbed man who saved her from Volt's attack. "Who are you?" Sheena asked curiously, still holding the weapon up to the boy's neck. Lloyd was a little antsy after being attacked so early in the morning that he smartly remarked, "Give me your name, and I'll give you mine.". Lloyd loved to use his signature catch phrase whenever he could, causing many strangers to think the boy was arrogant. Sheena, however, put up a slight grin at the remark before lowering her weapons and answering.

"Heh. Fair enough. My name is Sheena Fujibayashi….!" Sheena said, slightly blushing at her mistake. Why did she say her last name!? Why didn't she say her fake name like she was supposed too? Was she actually nervous?

"Nice to meet you Sheena! My name is Lloyd Irving!" the boy said earnestly, causing Sheena's tension to melt away. She now realized that Lloyd not an enemy and that a fight would not occur between them. Sheena noticed the boy had two swords, so she assumed that he could fight with proficiency, but noticed that both swords were wooden. "Haven't they discovered metal in Sylvarant?" Realizing it was her turn to talk, Sheena cleared her voice before stating, "It's nice to meet you too…thank you for healing my bruise. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Sheena was heading for the terrace to leap through the trees and leave the kind boy. Lloyd realized this and realized with a sense of dread that she might be leaving his life again, forever this time.

"Wait!" he exclaimed as Sheena had a foot on the porch railing. She looked back and had a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "Would you like some breakfast?" Lloyd asked, staring at the ninja for a positive response. Sheena was hungry, but was strangely bashful at every word that came from the boy's…Lloyd's mouth. "Why am I acting this way?"

"Umm, yeah, sure. Thank you!"

"Okay, gotta time this just right…" Lloyd thought as he had a glare off with the omelet he was cooking for his guest. He stared as he saw the egg slowly hardening into solid form. It was time for the flip. The swordsman had to get this right; he desperately wanted to impress his guest in some way, stupid or not. Lloyd felt all of his emotions and dreams riding on his spatula as he prepared to flip the breakfast dish. After seconds of intense concentration, Lloyd flipped the dish, miscalculating his strength and sending the omelet several feet into the air before in landed on Lloyd's cooking pan, to his surprise and delight.

"YES! I DID IT!" Lloyd yelled in triumph.

Sheena eyed the spectacle curiously, giggling slightly when Lloyd had a short celebration on his cooking prowness. She noticed the boy's unfamiliarity with cooking when he awkwardly made the meal. Sheena was surprised at his progress and glad that he was cooking just for her (!). Sheena loved cooking; all Mizuho woman had to be proficient chefs in order to bring balance to the home. The assassin felt slightly rebellious towards this forced tradition, but she could not help but enjoy her hobby.

It was a non-lethal ninja activity!

As Lloyd finished up with the cooking, he brought the two omelets to the table and presented Sheena with his great accomplishment. Giving her thanks, Sheena began to eat the dish, Lloyd looking expectantly at her. "Since when do I care about my cooking?" he wondered, though he already knew the answer to that.

"So, how is it?" he asked inncocently.

"Not fully cooked. Not enough meat. Lacks flavor. I taste a shell in here." Sheena though as he asked, but she knew better than to say that to the expectant boy. "Its great! Thanks a lot!" Sheena said half-heartedly. Pleased with this answer, Lloyd began to eat his plate of food as well. He noticed the distinct flaws in his food and slowly cursed to himself. "Damn! I bet she just took pity on my cooking…" he thought sadly. Both putting on a smile, they began to slowly torture themselves by eating this bland meal.

Lloyd knew that he had caused an awkward situation, so he decided it was time to start a conversation with the lady of his dreams.

"So…are you okay?" he asked, wondering if his high-speed necklace throw had caused any damage to Sheena. She saw that the question was meant to break the ice between them, so she too decided to create a conversation.

"Fine! It was only a minor injury."

"That's good! I was afraid that I really hurt you when I threw that necklace at you…sorry about that." He said with a small grin and regretful eyes.

"On no, really, I'm okay! And your necklace wasn't damaged at all, so you could give it to that blond girl you were talking too…!"

"Crap!" Sheena though while blushing. "I just told him I was stalking him! I'm such a creep!"

Lloyd seemed completely oblivious, however, and continued to speak, to Sheena's relief.

"Yeah, I really hope she likes it. It's kinda late though because her birthday was yesterday."

"That's very thoughtful of you. Making a present instead of buying one is always more meaningful in a relationship." Sheena said, letting the last word slide. She told herself she was on an assassination mission, not a date-off, but that didn't mean she couldn't delve into the topic of relationships. Right?

"Relationship? I wonder if she thinks me and Colette are…nah." Lloyd thought before answering.

"Good friends should always receive good presents, right?" the swordsman said, choosing his words carefully. "Right!" Sheena said, a bit over enthusiastic for a simple answer. The ping of juvenile jealousy she was feeling had melted away slightly at his statement.

"So what brings you to Iselia?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"I'm looking for the Chosen of Regeneration." Sheena replied seriously. She could trust the boy as far as she was concerned and he might help with her search. Lloyd felt slightly disappointed at her answer; he thought she was an anti-Desian hero or a government spy sent to destroy all evil…or something heroic like that.

"Why do you need to see the Chosen?" he asked thoughtfully.

"I have…a message for him…or her. Its very crucial that I see the Chosen."

"I see. Why don't you tell me the message? I'm meeting up with the Chosen's party today to go on the journey of Regeneration!" Lloyd said, excitement brewing in his eyes. Sheena began to feel horror as she knew that if did join the Chosen, he might have to fight her. Suddenly, the assassin felt like killing the Chosen quickly so that she wouldn't have to test her morals with that possibility.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. The kind of message I wish to send must be made…in person." She replied, thoughts of how her duty would unfold in her mind.

"Okay! Then come with me to Iselia! We can go see the Chosen together!"

"Sorry. That sounds great, but I'd rather send this message alone…" she replied with sadness as she saw Lloyd's hope disappear in his eyes. The assassin wouldn't let him see what she had in store for the unlucky Chosen. Lloyd felt a bit rejected, but shun the thought off as he continued to eat his breakfast, not bringing up the Chosen for the rest of the meal.

Realizing she should be going, Sheena said goodbye to the boy. As she was beginning to leave, Lloyd called out to her:

"Wait! Will I see you again?"

Sheena looked back and stared into Lloyd's eyes. They both had dreamt of each other, but couldn't bring themselves to tell about their dreams; it would have been too weird.

"Your journey will take you to Triet, right?" she asked. Lloyd nodded.

"Then I'll see you there!" Sheena said with a grin and a wave as she suddenly jumped into the trees and started to jump away. Lloyd let out a laugh and watched her leave, feeling sorrow that she left but newfound hope that he would see her again. Lloyd looked to his left to see his father Dirk seemed unaware of the morning's events, sitting still at Lloyd's mother's grave.

Sighing, Lloyd thought to himself, "Okay, I'd better go have a talk with dad."

**Hey, for those of you reading these stories, don't be shy! Please review and give your personal opinion; should I change anything, did you like where the plot if going, words of encouragement and delight, etc! **

**Please review.**


	4. Chapter 3: Surprise Attack

**Man, I am really sorry for being late on this one. You see, I get a used car if I get my grades up and I had to focus on that for a while. But now I'm stable, so heres another epic chapter! Enjoy:**

**Chapter 3: Surprise Attack**

"Heh, that was way too easy!" Lloyd exclaimed as he watched the Desian guard run away. Lloyd had used the Sorcerer's Ring that he "borrowed" from the Iselia Temple to break out of the prision he was currently in. Conveniently hitting the guards cell control remote, Lloyd also happened to unlock the cell he was in.

The events after Lloyd's esteemed visitor had been very action packed for the young swordsman. When he went to see Colette, who in his mind "ditched" him, the Desians had attacked Iselia. It was then that Lloyd realized his dream had actually been a vision and that people were going to die. He also realized that Sheena would probably be here as well, but Lloyd was, in the literal sense, dragged away by Genis to the center of town, where Lloyd killed Marble, who had turned into a monster. If Lloyd's guilt had been soul-crushing, it didn't help that the villagers of Iselia, especially the mayor, had blamed him for the disaster. Lloyd couldn't really say they were at fault at banishing him afterwards. His mind was so lost in guilt that he didn't see the ninja in the crowd who eyed him with sympathy and cast an evil glare at the mayor as he had walked by her.

After that, Lloyd and his fellow banished friend Genis went off for the Chosen, which took them about three days. The swordsman liked to take in the new sights, but he wished that Genis would pick up on how to use an Exsphere faster so they could sprint down the countryside instead of going at a snail's pace. The duo had encountered a couple of monsters, which proved no threat for Lloyd as he slashed them with some new skills he picked up from observing Kratos. Genis was also learning a variety of new spells, which Lloyd took special interest in ("Thats awesome! Do it again!). A nearby figure who had passed them by also observed Genis' magic and muttered, "So THATS what that toy is for!".

Following clues from various people that they passed, Lloyd and Genis made their way to Triet, where the Chosen was said to have gone. Along the way, Genis could have sworn he had seen a purple blur pass them by at extrodinary speed, but Lloyd responded, "Genis, just shut up!". The desert heat had made Lloyd antsy.

The two had reached the town and heard that the Chosen's group had indeed passed by. They heard that the Chosen's group were heading to the Triet Ruins, which was supposedly the first seal. Unfortunately, they were stopped by town-occuping Desians, which Lloyd easily put into place. "Then I was knocked out by a huge lightning bolt and brought to their base." Lloyd thought, though exaggeratedly.

And now he was in the center of their base; Lloyd had to make his escape. Stepping out of his cell, Lloyd looked at his surroundings. The walls were a shiny white with lines of light coursing through them. "Wow...so shiny..." he though dumbly. "These Desians sure are high tech!"

Lloyd found his weapons on a nearby table and hurried to equip them. Instead of the wooden blades he had in Iselia, which he promply burned after using them to kill Marble, Lloyd bought a new pair of Knight's Sabers to weild. As he headed to where he thought the exit was, Lloyd glanced behind him to see there were more cells than his. If he was going to escape a Desian base, he figured he might as well save as many prisioners as he could. The swordman glanced at the second cell, but nothing lied in it. The third cell, however, put Lloyd into a bit of a shock; in it and on her side on a cement bed was Sheena Fujibayashi.

"Oh no! Those bastards!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Sheena! Hey, Sheena! Are you okay?!" The assassin groaned and whined, "Leave...melone...hurry...find Yuan..." Lloyd put on an amused face and reponded, "Yuan? Sheena, its me; Lloyd!". Sheena suddenly jumped up from her sleeping position and turned to view her visitor. It indeed was Lloyd! "Lloyd! What the-! How-!" she stammered, causing Lloyd to laugh outloud. After regaining her composure, Sheena asked, "What are you doing here?".

"Well, I actually got captured by these Desians, but I managed to break out!" Lloyd said with a smile. "Desians?" Sheena said. "These aren't..." "Oh crap thats right!" Sheena thought. The people in Sylvarant couldn't tell the difference between the Renegades and the Desians!

"Sheena? They aren't...what?" Lloyd asked questioningly. "Um, never mind." Sheena said, biting her lip as she said it. The assassin didn't want to lie to him, but for the sake of her mission, she had to. And anyway, why had the Renegades captured Lloyd in the first place. The only reason she could think of was that Lloyd had to have been...the Chosen.

"Come on, we are getting out of here," Lloyd said as he opened her cell. Sheena merely stood there, even as the cell door had opened. "Well, are you coming?" Lloyd asked. "Uhh, yeah, sure. Sorry." Sheena replied, though she was blushing when she realized she was staring at the boy. The assassin prayed to Martel that this boy wasn't the Chosen she thought he was.

The two got down the hallway before Lloyd saw that Sheena was weaponless. "Hey Sheena...do you have any weapons on you?"

"No, but I don't need them." she replied confidently. "Really? How are you going to...," Lloyd started before they ran into two Desians.

"Its the prisioners!" one said to the other. "Prision break! Get them!" the other proclaimed as the guards ran towards them. Lloyd began to take out his swords, but before he could, Sheena had ran past him and roundhouse kicked the first guard, who quickly fell to the ground unconcious. The second guard tried making a grab for Sheena, but she took a firm grip of his arm and tossed him to the ground with a powerful trip followed by a swift Exsphere-powered kick in groin, not essentially knocking him out, but putting in intense pain.

Lloyd stood there, mouth agape, at the scene he had just witnessed. He had remembered how powerful Sheena was, as seen in his dream, but the lightning quick attack he had seen just now raised his respect for her to a whole new level. Sheena saw him staring at her, which made her feel slightly embarresed, slightly humbled. "Wha-what is it?" she asked with a slight blush. "That was amazing! How did you-that was-wow!" Lloyd exclaimed as he walked around the moaning guard and his knocked out partner. The two walked past them and continued to go through the base.

"Well, when you train to be a ninja, one is usually excelled in the martial arts." Sheena said proudly. "Whats a ninja?" Lloyd asked curiously, never hearing that word before but getting increasingly interested. "You don't know what a ninja is? Seriously?" Sheena questioned as Lloyd nodded. "Sigh..., a ninja is like a warrior who specializes in fighting in the shadows. We focus on speed and agility rather than brute strength, and out attacks are usually conducted...unannounced." she explained. "Oh, so you go around and surprise attack people for fun?" Lloyd asked, which earned a serious glare from Sheena. "Whats THAT supposed to mean?!"

"Well," Lloyd started, "how do you guys train to fight in the shadows without surprise attacking?". Sheena's stare turned into a dumbfounded look. Was he actually being serious? Although, when she did think about it, his question did have some meaning in it. "Actually, we practice by attacking the nearby monsters in the forest beside my village." Lloyd sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I thought you were some kind of bandit or something.". "Oh no, of course not!" Sheena exclaimed.

"I know, I was kidding Sheena! Even though we don't know each other very well, I can tell that you are a good person." the swordsman said. This made the assassin feel a mix of guilt and joy. "I mean, I saw you take out those Desians back in Iselia!" Lloyd said with a grin. "Oh, well, thank you...wait!" Sheena exclaimed, now examining Lloyd. "How did you see that? Weren't you fighting that monster in the center of town?"

"Oh yeah, thats right," Lloyd thought. "Umm, I saw you from the corner of my eye." he lied. The ninja could tell there was some deception, or at least uncertainty, in his voice, but she decided to not press the matter.

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"Its over here! Come on, hurry up!" Genis said with a squeal to Colette, Kratos, and Raine, who were busy trying to keep up.

After Lloyd was captured, Lloyd's friend Genis was let off the hook by a surprisingly nice pair of Desians and left to find Colette's group. As soon as he found them outside the Triet Ruins, he told them about his story so far, and emphazised the fact that Lloyd was taken prisioner. This news had surprised and worried everyone, even the usually solemn Kratos Aurion, and the group began to rush towards the Desian base.

"Slow down Genis!" Raine yelled to her brother, who slowed down to a light jog. Being the only one without an Exsphere, or any sort of what she called "performance enhancers", her stamina was much lower than that of the others in her group. "Lloyds not going anywhere, and I doubt they would capture him only to kill him," she explained, although slightly unsure. "But what if something bad happens!" Genis and Colette said in unison, looking at the Professor with tear-filled eyes.

"Something bad has already occured." Kratos said to the youth. "He is captured by your direct enemy. Is that not the worse that could occur? By this action of capturing, they have successfully lured you away from regenerating the world." The two youth now looked to the ground with sorrow in their eyes, despirited by this short lecture. Giving Kratos a short glare, Raine went over to console the children. Kratos merely shrugged and stared ahead, the "Desian" base being only a few leagues ahead. How did he get himself into these situations?

Scanning the nearby area, which had become second nature to the cautious mercenary, he spotted a set of small footprints to his right. The desert usually blew away footprints of such detail in little time, so Kratos assumed these were fresh. "Interesting..." he thought as he followed them without straying too far from the group. The prints lead in the area of Triet, which was only a dozen or so miles from their current position. Kratos didn't walk far to reach his destination, as he approached a large spiral staircase that decended into the ocean of sand. Strangely enough, Kratos saw that the hole was meant to be covered by a wooded door, else be flooded by endless debris, but a strange looking shape had broken what was left of the door, as if somebody had fallen in. By Kratos' guess, the accidental person in question was a woman who likely fell into the hole by accident. "She had to have moved at a high speed in order to make such a...defined outline." Kratos thought with the side of his mind.

"Hmmm, this seems to be an emergency exit for the Desians." Raine said to Kratos as she walked up beside him with the children behind her.

"Indeed. This seems to be the best way to enter without encountering the full force of the guards." Kratos said as he opened the wooden gate. He looked behind to see the determined looks of Colette and Genis as they knew they were going to fight.

"Are you ready?" he asked them.

They replied, "Lets do it!"

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Lloyd saw the strange machine fire a flash of bright light at him, which he sidestepped before jumping on top of the machine to impale it with his sword. "That must have been the twentith metal clunky machine thing I've fought today." he thought as he watched Sheena take on a Desian guard by herself. For whatever reason, Sheena asked Lloyd to not literally kill anybody that they encounter and instead stick with the "robots", as she called them. When asked why, Sheena said she had her reasons before sweetly asking "Please?" with a girlish-look. Lloyd laughed at that and promised, as long as she wasn't in direct danger, which raised a smile between the pair. Although the pair had barely met, they had time between fighting and navigating to gather in conversation. Surprisingly, the Desians were scarce and rarely a problem for the two, who were way stonger than their enemies.

Even with getting a new close friend, Lloyd still felt uneasy around her, although he barely showed it. "Why doesn't she want us to kill any of them? We could strike them where it hurts." he thought. Also, there was the case that Sheena had literally slaughtered those Desians that attacked Iselia, so why was she showing these ones any mercy?

Lloyd cast these thoughts aside as he and Sheena approached a strange looking machine with a colored cube revolving in the center. "Whats that!?" Lloyd asked Sheena, who seemed to know how every contraption in the facility worked. "That, Lloyd, is an advanced guard system for locking the remaining doors in this facility." Sheena explained to Lloyd matter-of-factly. "The only way to get through it is to use that small computer board over there to defragment the locking mechanism, which is held by the electric fields holding the cube in place. To do that takes much in the manner of computer hacking unless a five-code password is inputted, which is changed every twenty-five minutes and sent to the leader of this establishment to be relayed to the commanders of this sector, who lie on the other side of the door we need to unlock, so..."

Sheena stopped when she saw Lloyd aim a strange ring at a power generator for the machine. "Uhh, what are you.." she started before Lloyd shot an electric blast at it, which surprisingly caused the cube to spin...exactly in the position needed to open the door to the control room. The assassin only stared in dumb-found shock. "Sorry Sheena, I thought this might be quicker than all of that!" Lloyd said with a grin. Sheena only continued to stare. "Sheena? Are you okay?" the swordsman asked, worried now. Lloyd now put a hand on her forehead to see if she had some sort of petrifiying fever. Lloyd's physical touch knocked Sheena out of her spell and put her on a shy defense; "Ye-yeah...I'm fine....good job."

Lloyd sighed in relief, "Good. Lets hope this control room has some sort of emergency exit." Sheena tensed up after hearing that word. She didn't want to remember how she got in this position.

They both walked into the hallway, where they saw a large group of Desians straight ahead. "Oh oh! Lets go Sheena!" Lloyd exclaimed. He grabbed Sheena's hand, giving her another blush, and pulled her into a nearby room. "Why do I keep blushing?" she thought. "Whew! That was close..." he said to her softly.

"And just who the hell are you?" said a blue-haired man standing a few feet from the duo, who they obviously didn't see apon entering, charging a spell towards their direction.

Sheena stared at the man, shocked. This was Yuan, her superior, the head of the Renegades known only to the Mizuho village that had actually debriefed her on the assassination of the Chosen. Apon seeing him, she knew that she, and Lloyd, were royally screwed. "Lloyd, please don't say anything..."

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine!" Lloyd said stubbornly with his hands spread out as if to challenge him.

"Hahaha! You certainly have guts! But I don't see the need to introduce myself to a miserable little creature like you." Yuan said in his usual smug attitude.

"What a coincidence," Lloyd said with equal smug, "cause I don't see a need to introduce myself either to a moron who doesn't realize how pathetic he is."

"Why you little-" Yuan spat as he prepared to attack Lloyd before Sheena stood before him, arms spread as if to protect Lloyd. "Sheena?! What are you doing?!" Lloyd yelled to her. "Sheena?" Yuan said as he took a look at the woman who stood before his supposed target. "What the hell are you doing?! Out of the way!"

"No Yuan! This boy isn't the Chosen! Leave him alone!" Sheena yelled, not sure why she was doing this for somebody she only just met. Yuan and Sheena glared at each other for a time, both not hesitating in their stance. "Sheena," Yuan started, "why do you stick up for this human? What purpose could he have in saving our world?" The assassin only shook her head before replying, "I'm sticking up for him because he is...my friend. As for a purpose, he doesn't deserve to die for our cause!"

"Argh! You are so naive! You were hired by us for one reason and one reason only, or have you forgotten? You are the messenger of death for Sylvarant, and yet you stand here defending one of her people!" Yuan scolded. Sheena continued to stand their, eyes darkening on his words. She knew that if she continued to stand here, Yuan might just attack her to get to Lloyd, for whatever importance he might be. And the assassin could tell by the tense atmosphere of this situation that the boy was perhaps more important than she once thought. There was no way...could he be the...

Just then, Yuan's right hand man Botta ran into the room, taking Sheena's guard off long enough for Yuan to attack her with a toned-down lightning shock, knocking the assassin out and causing her to fall to the ground. "Sheena!" Lloyd exclaimed as he tried to reach her, but Botta had blocked the way and allowed Yuan to pick Sheena up. "Botta," Yuan started, "i'm leaving for now. Our plans will be ruined if he sees me." "Like hell you are!" Lloyd yelled as he tried to strike Yuan, only to be blown back by a Stalagmite, courtesy of Botta. Yuan then took leave, leaving a furious Lloyd behind.

"Sheena!" Lloyd yelled with a blood-curling scream as the door shut behind the blue haired man and the girl of his dreams.

**Hey, hope you guys like this chapter. Please review; I really wanna get better at this whole writing thing. Also, I'll try to have the next chapter up by next week. Comments might make me write faster...**


	5. Chapter 4: Awakened Resolve

"Sir, the ninja has awoken. How would you proceed?" Botta asked Yuan, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

Everyone in the Renegade base knew that Yuan was not in one of his better moods since the escape of Lloyd Irving. They knew that, with the boy's exsphere, they could have shifted the balance of power between them and their foes, the Desians. They even had the boy in custody, totally under their control. But somebody had interfered the moment Yuan was about to receive his prize, his ultimate weapon.

Ever since then, Yuan had been furious. He sent his scout parties to find any opportunity to attack Lloyd when Kratos wasn't in the area, but they found none. It seemed that father was clinging closely to son, probably for the remainder of the regeneration of Sylvarant. Yuan knew that such an opportunity would probably never happen, and that he shouldn't have binded his time like he had that day.

"I'll go see her now, I suppose. Thank you." Yuan sighed as he got up from his office chair, gladly leaving behind his pile of paperwork to walk to the interrogation room with Botta. Yuan noticed the facility had been awfully quiet recently and wondered why, but then he remembered that he had sent a sizeable sum of them to keep tabs on the Chosen's party.

"Sir," Botta asked, "permission to speak."

Yuan felt no compassion today, but out of courtesy he replied with a yes.

"What fate do you have planned for our prisoner?"

Yuan turned to stare at Botta; normally he wasn't compassionate. That's why he was his right-hand man.

"Why do you ask?"

"I know your…violent tendencies." Botta replied, keeping his serious tone and staring at his boss bravely.

"Botta…you need not worry. I don't plan to kill her, at least not yet. I'm just planning to send her back to her village in dishonor. I'm sure those barbaric-ninjas will think of a better punishment than I could give."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Why?" Yuan asked with suspicion, remembering the murmurs from his subordinates on how "attractive" she appeared. "Why should you care about this prisoner?"

"My contacts in Mizuho have told me of this ninja's interesting history." Botta started. "It appears that she was the cause of Volt's rampage a decade back. She is already ostracized by her people. Wouldn't sending her back cause her to possibly be banished?"

"I know of this already. Why should we care? She knocked out half of our security! There are bigger things to worry about than a foolish ninja's problems." Yuan replied coldly. Many years ago he would have shown compassion for the young ninja, but years of fighting a seemingly invincible organization of angels had made Yuan very cynical.

"From a logical standpoint, not knowing where The'theallas summoner is at all times would be a problem. She may also turn to Cruxis, which will make taking Origin a near impossibility. In other words, we lose."

"And from a compassionate standpoint…?" Yuan asked.

"Well, that should be obvious sir." Botta replied smartly, very unlike his normal demeanour. Yuan sighed audibly. He knew Botta was a prodigy when he encountered him at Sybak. It annoyed him on how so much knowledge can go into the boy in only a short span of a few dozen decades.

"So," Yuan asked, "what did you have in mind?"

"We should send her back on the assassination mission."

"In other words, give her a second chance?" Yuan said, astounded. Botta nodded.

Back in his day, such chances…could never be given. Yuan had wished everyday of his prolonged life that he could have just ignored the bandit attacking from the front to look to see who was flanking his group from behind. Perhaps Mithos would not have turned mad then. He didn't believe in them, nor did he like giving them out. Yet Botta did have a point.

"She's too involved with Lloyd. Her relationship might compromise the mission."

"Regardless, we must, else we lose to Mithos. Try to show a little compassion; we need her" Botta replied. By now they were at the interrogation door, talking just outside. Yuan knew Botta was right. This didn't make him feel any better.

"You may take your leave now." Yuan said, dismissing Botta before going into the room.

Inside, on the other end of a long white table, sat a smug, purple garbed ninja, feet planted on the table as she was examining her nails. She didn't look up when Yuan entered the room, so he cleared his voice to get her attention. The ninja glanced at him for half a second before returning to examine her nails.

"Such insubordinance!!" Yuan yelled angrily in his mind, but calmed after remembering Botta's words. Compassion….compassion…

"Can I help you with something?" Sheena asked Yuan, wondering if the Renegade leader was just there to glare at her.

"Hmph." Yuan replied, taking a seat on the opposite side of the ninja. "You may leave us." he told the five armed soldiers standing behind her, leaving the two warriors alone in the interrogation room. Sheena started to feel a bit nervous now, but maintained her composure and rebellious façade; if she was going to be turned away in failure, she would do so with a smile on her face.

"Do you know who it was that you helped release?" Yuan asked.

"Yes. Lloyd Irving."

Sighing, Yuan asked again; "Do you know who Lloyd Irving is?"

Sheena stared at Yuan directly now, trying to read him before replying with an honest, "No."

Yuan opened his mouth to tell her of his exsphere, but then thought of a new plan. Yes, he would show compassion…in giving her a second chance. But he would break her heart and give her strength that she needed.

"What is your relationship with him?" he asked directly.

Sheena's cool-face was dropped by this question, instantly blushing before stammering, "Th-their isn't one."

"Really?" Yuan said, a devious grin on his face. "You sure went through a lot of trouble to save him."

"Actually, he saved me. Your stupid soldiers thought I was a Desian spy and threw me in jail." Sheena replied.

"Yet, you put yourself in that position by falling into our emergency exit," Yuan said, causing Sheena to wince in pain. "You must have known you would have been given access to leave when I came to see you."

"Well, I was impatient." Sheena said.

"Impatient enough to knock out half of my staff to help him?"

"Where are you going with this?!" Sheena yelled, angry on how this man was talking to her.

"Lloyd Irving, your 'friend', is your target." Yuan lied flatly. Sheena's face, upon hearing this, dropped into a face of pure horror.

"You mean…he is the Chosen of Sylvarant?"

Yuan nodded. "We were about to save your world, but you interfered. Now he is out there releasing the seals. I hear that the first one has already been broken."

The false realization hit her like a bomb. The red clothing. His house outside the village. His lies to "meet" the Chosen. His almost spiritual-like kindness. His lack of knowledge. It all seemed so obvious now. Sheena, who once feared that she would have to face him, now realized that she was destined to. Her first friend.

Yuan smiled devilishly. His moral compass told him that it wasn't right, or healthy, to derive pleasure from torturing minds with lies. But this was too much fun! In fact, this was a perfect fate for her; it would keep her on the mission and be a proper punishment for helping Lloyd escape. Plus, if she did succeed with her new mission, Kratos would surely go into a deeper depression than the one he was already in, giving perfect opportunity to attack the real Chosen. Yuan would kill two birds with one stone!

The Seraphim looked down at the ninja, who now held a horrified expression instead of her confident one she had on only minutes before. "She's too trusting. A perfect assassin to control…"

"Will you continue your mission?" Yuan asked, withholding a smile.

The ninja replied with a cold-hearted tone that made even the Seraphim feel pity for Lloyd;

"Yes."


	6. Chapter 5: Sorting Thoughts

Sorry about being late with this one, and it is a bit short. I will have the next chapter up relatively soon, so please deal with this for awhile. I don't feel very good about this chapter…so its more of a filler one. Damn writer's block…

**An Emotionally Deep Father-Son Discussion**

**Outside of Ossa Trail, Midnight**

Lloyd sighed in contentment as he gazed up into the night sky. Genis had cooked that night and Lloyd could still lick the brilliant aftertaste the cabbage rolls made in his mouth. The sky tonight was a new moon, and the stars were shining brighter than ever. The swordsman was the night watch tonight, so he figured he might as well relax and enjoy the scenery while he was up.

It was times like these that Lloyd forgot the painful memory of what had occurred at the desert Desian base only a few days before. He had fought and defeated Botta along with the help of his friends, who came in the nick of time. Everybody was there; Genis, Colette, Raine, even Kratos! The victory was short-lived, however, and the group had to retreat immediately, else by slain by the reinforcement Desians. It was this departure that ached in Lloyd's heart.

He had retreated; ran away. He had left with his, metaphorically speaking, tail between his legs while his new friend was still within his' hunter's grasp. He had abandoned her.

Suddenly the night sky was more of a depressant than a spirit lifter. It was a constant reminder that days after days were passing, countless minutes and hours that his friend was in the Desian grasp. It continued to inform that despite any determination you have, it would be put to rest by needed slumber. It was the binding of fate.

Lloyd had to fight every nerve and sense in his being to not rush back into the Desian base, swords drawn, and take out every obstacle, find Sheena, and leave with her in his grasp. "It could happen!" he thought, remembering the stories of dwarven lore Dirk had told him about heroes single-handedly taking armies out to save loved ones…

But the world was a cruel reminder that those stories didn't exist and that no amount of wanting and determination could give Lloyd the strength he needed to save Sheena from the army of equally strong half-elves. Heck, even Sheena was stronger than him. If she could get captured so easily, Lloyd didn't stand a chance. Even the swordsman knew his limitations.

Sheena. What could he think about her? She was…is beautiful, strong, tough, intelligent, brave…aside from those traits, Lloyd barely knew her. Yet, even when Lloyd had knocked her out on their first meeting, one word glowed brightly in his heart stronger than any star; fate.

Fate is what had brought them together. He was destined to meet her; every fiber in his being told him so.

His dreams revealed Sheena even before he knew her! And his dream had come true!

It had to have been fate! What else could it have been? It was this belief that they were "fated" that led Lloyd to believe, perhaps illogically, that the ninja was still alive.

It was amid his thinking that Lloyd didn't notice Kratos, who was to be the next on night watch, close up behind him.

"Lloyd." Kratos said quietly, surprising Lloyd from behind.

"Ahhh!" The swordsman jumped up from his spot to see the mercenary behind him. Kratos had his normal scowl on while Lloyd was glaring at him for being caught off- guard.

"It would seem you are slacking on your duties Lloyd. You should take better care, else something happens to the Chosen." Kratos said, scowl unchanging.

Lloyd's surprised look turned to that of annoyance. "You know, you've been with us long enough to call her Colette now. Chosen seems so…formal."

"Humph," grumbled the mercenary. He had no response to that. It was better that he distance himself from the group for reasons to be known later. "Your shift is up."

"All right, all right. Wanted to hit the hay anyway…" Lloyd replied, walking to his sleeping bag to catch some shut eye. Kratos watched him go and remembered the tombstone at the boy's house. In reality, Kratos was still in denial about what should be obvious at this point. Lloyd had to be his son. All the clues went towards that conclusion. His inward sense told him he should use every moment possible to get to know his "possible" son more, but he couldn't do it. If he got too attached, performing his final mission of betrayal would be that much harder. Kratos didn't realize he would have no choice in the matter; his fatherly instinct would kick in eventually.

But not on this night.

Yeah, I know. No deep father-son talk. Would be too soon. Maybe later. Sides', this story doesn't revolve around Kratos, does it? XD


	7. Chapter 6: Shattered Blinds

I have to say, I feel pretty good about this chapter. I've actually been waiting to write this for a while now. The words kind of typed themselves, and it resulted in a conclusion I found different then the one I planned. Whether this is good or not, I can honestly say I enjoyed writing. That's all that matters, right?

I don't own ToS in anyway…but I wish I did.

**Shattered Blinds**

**Ossa Trail, Mid-day**

"Finally! Solid ground!" Lloyd exclaimed enthusiastically, rushing to the grass and giving it a large hug and even a few over dramatic kisses. Genis and Colette laughed at this action, but Raine and Kratos both rolled their eyes in unison. After days walking through the vast desert, the group had finally reached the forest-like landscapes they missed greatly. Even Kratos could admit that the desert was his least favorite landscape, even more than the arctic city of Flanoir.

"You're such a kid Lloyd." Genis teased, although he was strongly encouraged by his childish nature to join him.

"Honestly!" Raine added, though she could not hide the tone of joy in her voice. She,

perhaps more than anybody, wanted to leave the scorching desert behind.

"You guys are no fun." Lloyd said with a pout. Everyone, save Kratos, laughed at Lloyd's expense. Colette gave an extra giggle; she saw Kratos put on a slight smile; a rarity for the mercenary. It seems things were looking up for the group; everybody was in high spirits.

Everyone except Lloyd.

You see, Lloyd wasn't truly as happy as he appeared to be. It was all a show. The swordsman was pretending to be ecstatic and carefree. Lloyd found that wallowing in self-pity not only damaged himself, but affected the entire group. Therefore, masking his inner pain, he put a smile on his face.

Besides, the only thing he could do would be to finish the journey of regeneration. Lloyd didn't want Colette to be unhappy watching his sour demeanor. She had a much bigger burden than himself anyway. The swordsman had no right to be depressed. The best thing he could do would be to pick his head up, finish this journey, and rush back to Triet to rescue his friend. It's all that kept from rushing back and throwing caution to the wind.

A few hours after reaching the grassland and the group ran into a sign labeled, "The Ossa Trail". Lloyd sighed; it was a well-known fact that trails held many monsters and unaware passer-bys could be easily disposed of. Luckily, they were a group of powerful heroes…or at least mediocre warriors and Kratos. When everybody was prepared for combat, they proceeded towards the trail.

Nobody noticed Lloyd's Exsphere shine brightly as they walked on.

The trail looked surprisingly monster barren. As long as the group kept their distance, they wouldn't run into any monsters. Unfortunately, Colette tripped on a miniscule stone on the ground and caught a few said monsters' attention.

"Colette!" Genis yelled, a tone of anger in his voice as two giant bears approached them. This had happened on more than one occasion.

"I'm sorry!" Colette apologized.

"Save the chit-chat for later. Here they come." Kratos exclaimed, trying to get the group's attention to prepare for the coming fight. "Lloyd, you and Genis attack the bear on the left. Colette, you and I will go for the other one. Raine; provide back up. Go!"

Lloyd approached his target, getting its attention to him by waving his two swords in the air and taunting, "Hey you stupid bear! Try and take us!"

"Eggbear!" Raine corrected from afar.

"Lloyd!" Genis yelled while conjuring a fireball. "Bears can't understand us! Just attack it!"

"Eggbear!!" Raine corrected again from afar.

"Whatever! Genis, attack 'it' now!" Lloyd yelled. The command being called, Genis released the fireballs towards the eggbear. They made impact upon its chest, causing it to roar in pain. Lloyd took the opportunity and struck it repeatedly with three hits followed by a fast barrage of smaller yet lighting fast bursts of stabs into the eggbear's burnt flesh, his swords slicing through the eggbear's torso like a hot knife on butter. With a finished roar, a small flash appeared on his flesh and he disappeared in a spark of light, as most monsters strangely did.

"That was way too easy!" Lloyd exclaimed, his signature grin planted on his face. The swordsman looked towards the other bear to find it being finished off by a lightning fast blow by Kratos, no burn wounds needed. Lloyd saw that Colette had barely taken out her charkas and groaned in annoyance; Kratos didn't need anybody, did he?

"Is everybody all right?" Raine asked the party.

"Nope."

"I'm okay!"

"I'm fine."

"No."

"Good, good." Raine said, sighing inwardly that she didn't get to participate in the fight. The group had become TOO experienced by the constant monster fights. "We should avoid getting in anymore fights while we are here."

"Yeah COLETTE!" Genis said, half teasing and half accusing. Colette started to form tears in her eyes as she cast her head down in shame. Raine went up to her younger brother and slapped him in the back of the head.

"Apologize!" the Professor commanded.

"I-I'm sorry Colette!"

"It's okay. I'm sorry for calling the monsters."

"But it wasn't your fault! I'm sorry for blaming you."

"Don't worry about it! It was my fault. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, but…"

The exchange of apologizes continued for another five minutes before Lloyd got the hint that this would be happening for quite a while. Deciding it was prime time for a rest anyhow, Lloyd found a patch of grass to sit and relax in. The swordsman noted that the ground felt particularly hallow compared to the other areas, but he had little time to examine this strange fact when a familiar voice rang through the air.

"Lloyd Irving!" bellowed a cold voice in a hot summer sky. The group all turned its eyes towards the top of the cliff where the voice came from, surprised at the malice in its tone. Lloyd, however, failed to notice the emotion, only hearing the sound of a friend he thought was long gone.

"Sheena?" he questioned, looking up the cliff. It couldn't be her…how could that be possible. But it was! It was Sheena!

"Sheena! You-you're alive!!" Lloyd bellowed in a voice full of joy. The group looked at the red-clad swordsman in bewilderment.

"Lloyd, you know this woman?" Kratos asked hesitantly.

"Is she a friend of yours Lloyd?" Colette added.

Lloyd turned to look at the group in astonishment until realizing he hadn't told them about Sheena at all! 'How could I forget to talk about something so important?'

Before he could talk, Sheena had jumped down the cliff and started rushing towards Lloyd, cards in hand. Kratos and Rained tensed; those cards were reminiscent of an ancient fighting style said to be extremely effective in killing all types of creatures…including people. "Lloyd, watch out!" the adults said in unison. Colette saw Sheena rushing towards them and instinctively backed up, thinking she was the target, and accidentally triggering the activation switch for opening the hidden mine shaft.

The entrance being under Lloyd's feet.

Before Lloyd could even turn around, he found himself enveloped in darkness and spiraling down an endless abyss.

"Wha-what the?!" Sheena exclaimed, stopping just seconds before reaching the mine entrance and falling in herself. Everyone stood paralyzed on the spot, disbelief on their faces, trying to comprehend what in the world had just occurred.

"Uh, what just happened?" Genis said, still shocked by the recent events.

"Colette seemed to have triggered a switch opening to a hidden mine shaft." Raine said, equal shock sketched into her face and responding in a robotic tone.

"Is he gonna be okay Professor!?" Colette asked, jumping up from the ground and looking pleadingly into Raine's eyes. Sheena felt something particular coming from this girl, a type of aurora almost, a bit of ninja intuition, but she ignored the feeling. The assassin already knew who the TRUE Chosen was from Yuan.

"He'll be all right." Kratos said reassuringly, a strange twist in his character. "The mines at the Ossa Trail are relatively close to the surface due to Desians stopping the miners here many years ago. Lloyd can take care of himself." Kratos' eyes now turned to Raine. "I believe we have something else we need to worry about."

Raine nodded, and together they began to take out their weapons and stare at the strange girl, gaining confused looks from Colette and Genis. Sheena tensed; she knew this healer woman and purple guy were going be an issue. Gaining her composure, she said in a very unemotional voice, "I do not have business with you, only Lloyd. It would be wise if you left your companion and return to your homes in peace."

"What do you want with Lloyd?" Colette asked curiously, no menace in her voice, only kindness. This took Sheena off-guard for a split second; why would they bring this tiny blond girl as a bodyguard. Then she remembered the charkas.

"Yeah! You really think you could hurt him with those pieces of paper!" Genis said, getting the hint from the adults and preparing himself as well and motioning for Colette to do the same. This lady was trouble if she knew Lloyd's name and wasn't his friend.

Sheena laughed at the comment. "Hah! At least I don't use a toy for combat!"

"It's better than a piece of paper!" Genis retorted, slightly flushed.

"These aren't pieces of paper you little twerp! They're…" Sheena started before stopping herself from revealing too much information. "…none of your business! Anyway, you don't need to know why!"

"Do you plan to harm Lloyd?" Kratos asked, a low yet potent amount of menace in his voice. If Sheena had any fear of the tall, powerful-looking man, it wasn't any greater than right now. But she was trained to never show fear, and she didn't.

"That's none of your concern." Sheena said, taking out a special card from her sleeve. 'I'm gonna use the second one Grandpa…' The assassin began to form a magic circle underneath her feet, building up her mana through an intricately complex pattern in her body that would release the power in the card. The power she could only use.

The power to summon.

"How's this for a piece of paper!? I summon the ancient despair of the protector. Arise, Guardian of the Lost!"

A bright flash of light shown brilliantly through the forest before it dissipated in several long seconds. In its place stood what looked like a cross-breed of man and bird, with a strange ship-like wheel on its back. With an intense thrust of its arm, a powerful gust of wind was sent towards the group and sent them all flying, even Kratos. The mercenary had not fought a guardian spirit since his time with the other Seraphim over three millennia ago.

"Take care of them, but please try not to harm the young ones!" Sheena commanded to the guardian before leaping down the maintenance tunnel after her target. Were all bodyguards resorted to women and children? It looked like the Chosen One was protected by his family or something.

While the group had been busy "socializing" with her, she had Corrine scout the depth of the hole, which he said was about five stories. Perfect. With any luck, close to surface or not, the boy might have been caught off guard and may have died by the fall. Or he was at least near death or injured, in which case she could quickly finish him and take his Exsphere for "proof" to give to Yuan. After all, unless Lloyd had trained extensively on Exsphere based skills like Sheena had, he would have been at least injured by his descent.

Sheena felt a powerful pang of guilt and hurt, but she cast the emotions aside.

________________________________________________________________________

Lloyd groaned as he landed on the ground with a thud, barely landing on his feet. He hadn't expected that fall at all! 'At least it was a lot shorter than the Iselia Ranch fall was.' The swordsman took a look at his surroundings. The cave he was in wasn't too dark, as light was shining in quite dramatically from the ceiling and from an opening far ahead of him. He spotted a large body of a skeleton with four arms in the corner of the cave, and he took a curious look at it. This gaze didn't last long, as he saw a person land right in front of him, only inches away.

"Sheena!" he yelped, surprised by the distance between them. Nonetheless, he gave her a close hug, keeping her very close to him. Lloyd would not lose his friend again. "Sheena, I'm so glad you're alright! How did you get out? Did you beat up that stingy blue-haired guy? I'm so happy to see you! I…" Lloyd stopped mid-sentence to look down towards his stomach; a card had been placed flat on it.

Sheena jumped away from him, looking slightly flushed, and before he could respond, he was blown back several feet, hitting a wall of the cave with a "thud". It took a while before the dust dissipated, and Lloyd got up with a groan, pain exploding from his chest. "Sheena, wha-?"

"Lloyd Irving…" The assassin said with renewed vigor and hatred in her eyes as she stared at her target. "Prepare yourself!" And with that, she threw a trio of exploding cards towards Lloyd, who barely had time to dodge them.

"Sheena! What the hell are you doing!" he yelled, running in a circular pattern as Sheena continued to throw exploding projectiles at him from afar. "Why are you trying to kill me?!" The assassin ignored Lloyd and threw a card a few feet ahead of where she suspected Lloyd would be heading. It was a direct hit, and Lloyd was sent flying once again into the cave wall, his yelp of pain vibrating on the rocks.

Sheena winced.

The dust around where Lloyd was hit continued to float around, obscuring Sheena's view of her target. Ten seconds passed. Now twenty. Thirty…had she killed him already? Sheena's heart ached suddenly, no physical pain but plenty of the emotional brand. 'That's it? He didn't even put up a fight…'

Suddenly, a red-clad figure ran out of the smoke, his swords hanging by his side as he rushed towards her with amazing, almost ninja-type speed. Sheena smiled. "There you go Irving! Bring it!" the assassin taunted. Lloyd's eyebrow twitched.

Lloyd sent a powerful shockwave ahead of him as he ran towards Sheena; she easily dodged it by jumping high into the air, converting her mana into her legs until she reached the ceiling. Lloyd watched with awe as she did this; 'How the hell did she get up there'; before he saw her propelling herself towards him faster than one of Raine's chalkboard erasers. Sheena threw another trio of exploding cards towards Lloyd, who threw up a Guardian shield in just the nick of time. "You're gonna have to learn new tricks Sheena!"

The assassin growled as she used his shield as a landing pad and performed an impressive array of flips in the air before landing several feet away from "The Chosen". "You just watch!" Sheena sped towards Lloyd, no cards in her hands. She would do this Iggiguri-style. Lloyd gulped; he knew Sheena was a force to be reckoned with without her weapons. His only chance was to use his swords at close range. 'But…I can't hurt her!'

A flurry of punches and kicks smacked into Lloyd as he tried to hold his ground. The swordsman had put his swords away and was trying to engage her in hand-to-hand fighting. For a while, he managed to dodge most of Sheena's attacks, but her consistent endurance and unbelievable speed made the tiny fists and feet feel like boulders smacking into his body. Nonetheless, Lloyd managed not to fall over; this onslaught continued for another five minutes, the swordsman not throwing a single punch, until Sheena decided to finish him.

"Take your swords out Irving! You're never going to win like this!" Sheena taunted, smashing Lloyd in his face with a powerful roundhouse kick that sent the mercenary flying towards the ground, another groan of pain vibrating throughout the cave.

Sheena winced again.

Sighing in annoyance, Sheena leapt into the air and landed on Lloyd's stomach. Lloyd yelled in pain for a good two seconds, his stomach and body deeply bruised, before Sheena could kneel on him to talk to him face to face. "You know Irving, you need to actually try if you want to beat me." Lloyd just glared at the Sheena, who was taken back a bit before she continued. "C'mon Irving…Lloyd. Just try and resist. Fight back. Don't let me kill you so easily."

"Is this a joke?" Lloyd asked, a smile on his face. Sheena frowned.

"No."

"So…we aren't just sparring? This is real."

Sheena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, of course! Normally sparring isn't this intense. This…is the real deal."

"And YOURE going to kill me?" Lloyd said disbelievingly. Sheena blinked several times before taking the comment as an offensive one.

"What's THAT supposed to mean!?" the assassin demanded.

"I don't believe you is what I mean!" Lloyd now shouted, putting Sheena on the defensive. "You expect me to believe that the person who didn't want to harm any of the Desians back in Triet wants to kill me? That the person who ate crappy omelets with me wants to end my life? That the person who sacrificed herself for my well-being has come to take my soul!? Why do you even want to kill me anyway!?" Lloyd yelled with as much passion as he could muster. How could this lady of his dreams, who fought off countless Desians to save strangers, want to kill him?

Why would his friend want to kill him?

Sheena's eyes seemed to lose the glaze that was covering them with lack of emotion. Sheena felt empathy, gratitude, and…something else. 'No dammit no! This has to be done for the good of my world!' "I won't let you dissuade me Irving! This is my mission, and it will be done!" Sheena yelled, taking out one of her bladed cards and placing it towards Lloyd's neck, ironically in a similar fashion as when the two in Lloyd's room only a week before. Sheena had her eyes wide open as she prepared to finish her foe. Yet, she found her hand trembling and her heart straining in pain. 'Wh-why can't I do this!? He's…just…a target.'

Lloyd smiled and reached up to touch Sheena's face tenderly, seeing the emotional pain she was enduring running through her eyes, a single tear crossing down her cheek. Despite being the one in a crisis situation, Lloyd desperately wanted to ease the discontent that was spreading along his friend's face. Strangely enough, Sheena didn't move away from the approaching hand. She…wanted him to console her. "Sheena…"

When Lloyd touched her face with his thumb, his glove having already been roasted off, the reaction was like a bolt of Volt's lightning. Static ran through them both.

It was at this point they both realized they had hopelessly fallen for each other.

Two flashes of bright light blazed through the empty cavern.

Again, gotta say I enjoyed writing this. Also, I noticed I say "gotta" a lot when I'm writing, among other little quirks. My first drafts always end up looking like business essays…that's what you get when you lack a creative writing class at your school.

Oh, before I go, I hear it's bad to ask for reviews…if offends the reader or something. Really? I don't see the big deal. Kind of asking because of the harsh review skyfox got on his story from a guy who said he "refused to review" and instead gave a lecture on how bad it was to ask. Isn't that more work?

If it is really insulting, I'll stop asking.

Doesn't seem too offensive though…

REVIEW! XD


	8. Chapter 7: A Small Confrontation

_All right! So sorry about updating this so late! I've been on the "grounded" side of life for a while, but IM BACK! Not to sure about this one, but I don't hate it either; ill try and keep my updates to once a week or sooner. Enjoy!_

_Also, I do not own ToS….but I wish I did._

**Izoold, Mid-day**

"Lloyd Irving: Wanted dead or alive for the attack of Iselia Desian Human Ranch. If spotted, please contact the nearest Desian." Genis read outloud. Lloyd rolled his eyes. Who would want to help the Desians? As if answering his thoughts, Genis' face perked up in a devilish way as he continued to read the wanted poster, which were scattered practically everywhere in sight in the small town of Izoold.

"Hey guys, check it out!" Genis said, smiling. "The reward for turning Lloyd and his Exsphere in is 1,000,000 gald and Desian impunity!"

"What!?" Lloyd said, clearly stunned. Colette giggled, but the adults' faces turned grim upon hearing the news.

"This will be a problem." Kratos stated. "Lloyd's popularity has reached Chosen-high standards. Posters like these must be scattered all across Sylvarant. It is likely many bandits and other scoundrels will be trying to take his life."

"Yes." Raine agreed. "However, these posters may give us an advantage. With the Desian's attention focused on Lloyd, the Chosen will be a side thought to them."

Genis laughed outloud. "Good job Lloyd! You're protecting Colette with your reputation!"

"Thank you Lloyd!" Colette said, clearly clueless as to the results these posters would have. Lloyd's face was stoic and in thought. A thought had rose into his head that he had tried to reject as completely illogical, but he knew it was a possibility. Could this have been the reason why...

"Hey!" Genis exclaimed. "Maybe this is why that lady tried to kill Lloyd!" Lloyd's eyes darkened at this statement. Raine walked up to her brother and slapped him on the back of the head, hard. "Hey what was that for!" Genis yelled, before taking a look at Lloyd and immediately being filled with regret. Ever since the event at the Ossa Trail, Lloyd refused to talk about what took place inside the mine shaft the swordsman had fallen in, though they did notice his body was covered in bruises and burns. As far as the rest of the group knew, Lloyd fought her off and she escaped and that was the end of it. Yet, even Colette could see that the relationship was deeper than that, but nobody had the tenacity to ask him, not even Kratos. They could see it was a touchy subject for Lloyd. "I-I'm sorry Lloyd." Genis said sadly.

"No, its okay Genis. You're...probably right. That's most likely why what happened happened." Lloyd said. "If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna take a walk." Nobody stopped the swordsman as he walked away towards the docks, hoping the ocean would calm his nerves.

The Izoold port was relatively barren. With the ocean being a hazardous sea monster area recently, no sailor had the guts to cross the vast plain of ocean. Lloyd didn't blame them; who wants to die by in a watery grave? Despite the lack of people, many had gathered around what appeared to be a bulletin board at the center of the docks. The crowd was a rustled-looking band of warriors, yelling wily things and spewing rude remarks as they excitedly stared at something obscured from Lloyd's view.

"Wow! Can you believe it!" one of the younger looking men dreamily. "We could be the richest men in Slyvarant!"

"Aye aye!" replied a tall, burly man. "Rumor has it he comes from that Desian cooperating abomination of Iselia, but he was banished for backstabbing a Desian general!" Lloyd's curiosity was peaked now. The swordsman lived in Iselia, but he had never known any grisly figures like that. 'Perhaps I could catch a glimpse of this Desian killer..' Lloyd approached the rowdy men.

"Gotta' admire the guy." the young man said. "To attack a Desian general! Wow! He must be really powerful."

The burly man chuckled. "Who cares!? One man against a group of soldiers doesn't stand a chance, no matter who the bloke is!?" He turned to the rest of the men and yelled, "Who's with me!?" Everybody cheered, save Lloyd. 'Why would they want to attack somebody fighting against the Desians?'

Suddenly, a cloaked figure grabbed Lloyd rather brusquely from the back of his shirt and dragged him from the crowd, one arm clutched on his shirt. Lloyd was shocked and tried to shake out of this person's hold. "Wha-what are you doing!?"

"Shut up idiot!" the figure proclaimed, voice ruffled under the rags of clothes. Lloyd couldn't see who the person was, but could tell he or she was rather strong. Or at least strong enough to pull him away with the strength of an egg bear. Yet, the voice seemed eerily familiar...

The mysterious figure dragged Lloyd to a gazebo outside of the soldier's view. "Stay down." The stranger said strictly. Lloyd, strangely enough, did as he was told, though gave the person a dark glare. He would have assumed it was Kratos, but the figure's outline was much to short and thin to be the mercenary. He watched as the cloaked figure took a look around to see if anybody had followed them. Realizing they were safe, the cloaked figure mumbled something and turned around to glare at Lloyd with strict brown eyes. The stranger's face was obscured by a scarf, but Lloyd could see the figure was furious.

"Are you stupid or something!?" the stranger yelled, a voice Lloyd assumed was female. He was taken off guard by the statement and the sex behind it. 'Who does this girl think she is!?'

"Wha-what!?" Lloyd replied, equally angry and confused. "What are you talking about!?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the cloaked figure asked. Seeing Lloyd's face remain unchanged, the figure seemed to sigh before saying, "They were talking about you."

The swordsman just stared up at the stranger with a blank expression. It took Lloyd several seconds before realization kicked in.

"They were talking about a guy from Iselia." the figure continued. "YOURE from Iselia, in case you forgot. They were looking at your wanted poster Irving. Isn't it obvious. You were just looking at it a second ago with your friends!" Lloyd blushed, realizing his mistake and sensing his foolishness and stupidity. It had been pretty obvious. The figure rolled her brown eyes, the only unobscured part of her clothing, before exclaiming, "Idiot!"

"Hey!" Lloyd yelled, his honor already hurting from his own incompetance. Yet, he couldn't say anything bad to the figure. She saved him, after all. Lloyd probably would've been killed right then and there. "Th-thanks, I guess." the swordsman mumbled. Lloyd's mysterious savior didn't say anything, and they stood in an awkward silence, staring at each other with questioning looks. Lloyd then realized that he had no idea who this person was or what her intentions in saving him was. He also was curious as to how the stranger even knew that he came from Iselia. Unless…

For all Lloyd knew, this figure could have just dragged him out of the soldier's sight to kill him and plunder the award all for herself.

"So…um, who are you?" Lloyd questioned, already fearing the answer. The stranger's eyes instantly turned fearful, making Lloyd feel guilty and sad, for whatever reason. "Err, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine." The stranger exclaimed. Lloyd was hit with another realization, this one even bigger than the last. A smirk planted itself on his face. 'Could it be…?'

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked questioningly. The now identified stranger nodded. Lloyd rolled his eyes and gave a large grin. "You stole my catchphrase!" he teased.

Sheena removed her hood to reveal her face, which also had a smirk planted on it, and said, "Oh, but its such a good one, I had to use it!"

Lloyd frowned childishly. "I don't say that EVERY time."

"You've said it every time we've met so far, except I did it this time!"

Lloyd thought back; he had, hadn't he? 'I really should stop with that arrogant comment.'

With astonishment, he exclaimed, "Wow, I guess I have!"

His assassin rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly. "Idiot." For a second, Lloyd and Sheena stood there, taking in this moment and ignoring everything else. A slight breeze took them out of this phase and brought thoughts of torment into the duo's minds.

"So…are you here to finish the job?" Lloyd asked, one hand on his sword in a failed attempt to frighten his killer. The swordsman and perhaps the assassin knew he would never raise his blade against Sheena, not if he could help it. Besides, Lloyd knew he was quite outskilled compared to the ninja. By far.

"Would you prefer if I was?" Sheena questioned, a bit of tease and menace in her voice.

"Of course not!" Lloyd said with a flush. All playful banter aside, Lloyd got to business. He had to learn more about Sheena. "Why do you have to kill me?"

Sheena appeared stunned at such a strange but reasonably direct question and turned her head away from him; she could not be entranced by those eyes again. Sheena could not reveal the reason, although she assumed it was fairly obvious. "That's none of your concern." She said flatly.

"Why? Don't you think the prey should know why his predator wants to kill him?"

Sheena looked at Lloyd with disbelief. "That was a horribly tacky statement." Lloyd's face remained unchanged. Sheena sighed. "Look, I can't tell you, at least right now. Heck, I shouldn't even be talking to you right now."

"Is it for the reward money?" Lloyd asked, looking deeply into Sheena's eyes in question.

"You think I'm that petty?" Sheena said, clearly offended by Lloyd's question. The assassin had seen many of those wanted posters apon entering Izoold. She was surprised at how much the Renegades and the Desians would offer to whoever turned in Lloyd, but it was to be expected; he was the Chosen after all.

The swordsman smiled, pleased by the answer Sheena had given him. He knew she couldn't be that low, but he had his doubts. Still, she had to be hunting Lloyd for some reason or another. He decided to try reason number 2 in his, 'Possible reasons Sheena's gone evil' list he decidedly wrote in his mind. "Are you doing this to protect somebody the Desians have held hostage."

Sighing, Sheena replied, "No."

"Are you under some kind of mind control."

"No."

"Desian impunity?"

"No."

"Did that blue-haired guy seduce you into killing me?"

"NO!" Sheena yelled furiously, offended yet again but blushing this time. "No more questions! I have my reasons and they are not for you to know!"

"Why not!?" Lloyd yelled with equal rage but compassion. "If you tell me, maybe we can find an alternate solution!"

"Heh," Sheena said. "You just don't want me to kick your butt again, don't you?"

"Hey!" Lloyd said, flushed. "I could have won if you didn't go Iggiguri-style on me!"

"You should have taken out your swords."

"I could never hurt you Sheena. We're friends." Lloyd said, his voice lowered and eyes downward. He didn't catch Sheena blushing and looking away. Inwardly, she was calling herself idiot many times over.

Before Lloyd could question his captor/savior/hunter and more, the arrogant voice of the burly man from before bellowed towards the two. "You there! Lloyd Irving!" Lloyd and Sheena turned around to see that the burly man from before and the group of soldiers were apon them. "We've found you! Prepare to die!"

"Wait!" Lloyd yelled, not wanting to kill a non-Desian in an open village. "Why do you want to kill me? How could you want to help the Desians?"

The men laughed before the apparent leader replied, "For what else? The money of course! We'll all be rich if we turn in your carcass!"

Lloyd still couldn't comprehend. Sheena took a stance now, saying, "You really think the Desians are willing to part with so much gold? The monsters will hold you captive as soon as you deliver Lloyd!" This statement dumbfounded the already confused swordsman; why the hell should she care about him in the first place?!

The men laughed and snorted, obviously not caring about the stranger's comment. The burly man was slightly amused. "Who are you? His girlfriend?" Sheena and Lloyd took a look at each other, both blushing profusely. They looked away and cast their eyes towards their coming opponents. The burly man continued, "We'll take you to the Desians too! A pretty face like yours is sure to double the price!"

"Y-you still didn't answer my question!" Sheena said unsteadily, trying to gain her composure. Lloyd was shifting as well, a new feeling of despair and embarrassment lurking in his being.

"Then we'll just hold on to the bastard! He's important to the Desians. Perhaps they'll give us a bonus!" Lloyd groaned with disgust. He would understand if they were going to fight him for a chance to keep their families safe from Desian harm, but these people only cared about money! Sheena groaned as well, annoyed at the situation they were in.

"Irving." the stranger mumbled. "We must fight. Get ready."

"No." Lloyd replied. "You don't have to. These monsters are after me. Leave while you have the chance. In fact, why don't you join them" he said coldly, yet with sorrow. "You all have the same mission."

The stranger stiffened for a second, but loosened up and said, "I-I won't leave you here to die by their hand. It is my duty to kill you."

"Gee, thanks Sheena."

Deciding he could use the extra help, Lloyd shrugged in submission and took out his twin Knight Sabers. Lloyd looked over and saw that Sheena had taken out her signature card weapons and immediately felt remorse for his opponents; those cards were not to be messed with.

The men laughed menaiclly, taking out their various weapons. Lloyd counted nine of them in total. Five of them were equipped with standard blades. Three, including the young man from before, took out bows. The burly man took out a large warhammer that was almost the entire length of Lloyd's body. The swordsman gulped; this would not be an easy fight. He could see that all of the men had Exspheres equipped.

"Charge!" the burly man screamed, rushing towards the duo with surprising speed for his size. Lloyd and the stranger leaped out of the way just in time; the gazebo was utterly destroyed by the man's grotesque hammer. Landing on his feet, Lloyd immediately rushed towards the nearest swordsman and slashed at his leg, so not to cause death. The attack made its mark and with loud scream he fell to the ground limply. Two of the swordsman went for Lloyd while the other two proceeded to go for the stranger. Lloyd was too busy with his fight that he didn't notice how quickly the stranger disposed of the burly man and the fighters with only her martial arts and went for the archers.

Lloyd realized that his reckless strikes were too predictable to hit his opponents. They seemed to dodge every strike he struck towards them. Deciding that a new tactic would be needed, Lloyd decided to back up and let them come to him. Fortunately, one rushed towards him first and lifted his blade high over his head. Lloyd whacked the blade out of the man's hands and pierced him through the shoulder. The second man attacked Lloyd while the swordman's blade was still in now out-cold man. Lloyd had no time to react. He closed his eyes, brought up his second sword, and waited for death.

For several seconds, nothing happened. Lloyd looked up to see his attacker twitching, sword still high above his head. With a light groan, his attacker fell to the ground, a pool of blood oozing from his legs. Lloyd saw that a dagger was imbeded in the man's hip! Sheena must have thrown it! Lloyd winced; he was grateful, but saddened by the loss of life on his part.

"All right! Whos next!" Lloyd yelled in triumph before he looked around the battlefield. Everybody had been knocked out cold. The mages lied face down, covered with bruises. Some of them even had magic circles from casting spells still under them before they dissipated. One of them, the young man from before, was still unconscious, holding the area between his legs and groaning in pain. The other two swordsman were lying down apon each other in a spot that Lloyd could have sworn they were standing as the fight began, swift foot marks on their face. Even the cocky man with the warhammer had been felled, a red mark on the back of his neck, probably when he had tried pulling his hammer from the ground he planted it into.

Sheena stood in the middle of all this, panting softly and wearing a face of horror on her at the spot where the now dead adventurer was. When Lloyd saw this, he immediately felt his spirits dropped and an insatiable urge to make the face go away. If was filled with so much horror, Lloyd could have sworn this might have been the first time she had ever seem. 'But she's an assassin right? And she told me she slain many monsters outside of her village. Plus, she killed all those Desians back in Iselia.' Nonetheless, Lloyd walked up to Sheena and asked if she was okay.

Sheena had fought in battle many times before; being a ninja, it was her specialization to be fighting machine. It was the feelings she felt apon throwing the dagger at her opponent that got to her. The feelings of fury and passion behind the throw. The feeling that she couldn't let her target die. 'I'm…getting too attached. This burden…is it too much?'

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked again, a look of concern on his face. "Are you okay?"

At this, Sheena snapped out of her phase and looked at the person she had just protected square in the face. 'What am I doing? Why can't I kill him?' She knew the answer, but she couldn't admit it too herself.

"I'm fine." Sheena said grimly. Lloyd could tell she was lying; like Colette, Sheena's voice was downplayed whenever she was in distress. 'Perhaps all girls like to lie about their feelings…?'

"If you say so." Lloyd said hesitantly. The boy's face now turned from concern into astonishment. "Damn Sheena! You took out everybody by yourself! Being a ninja sure has its benefits, huh?"

Sheena blushed and looked away, wondering why she did this action every single time Lloyd compliemented her. 'Nobody in Mizuho ever appreciated our skills, so I'm just a bit off guard…that's it.'

"Lloyd." Sheena started. "I need to ask you a favor."

"A favor?" Lloyd asked curiously. Lloyd's mind instantly said no to the loudest volume, but his oversized heart overcame logic. "Sure. Whats up?"

"I need you to stop the journey of Regeneration."

Lloyd was stunned, to say the least, apon hearing this. "Wh-what!? I can't do that Sheena! I wouldn't want to!"

"Lloyd," Sheena said with a blank expression. "As long as you continue on your mission, I shall continue hunting you down. Not only me, but more brutes like these and the Desians." Lloyd gulped, but continued to listen. "You also have much more to fear than that. Mizuho, my village of assassins, will continue to hunt you down. Imagine, a horde of ninjas stronger than me coming to kill you! I couldn't guarantee the safety of your friends if you proceed." Sheena paused for dramatic effect, hoping inwardly that this would scare the boy away, before ending with, "Do you still wish to continue?"

To Sheena's surprise, Lloyd had a look of determination on his face rather than the fear she was trying to get from the boy. The swordsman put both of his hands on his swords and smiled. "I'll never give up on my friends. That includes you Sheena. You won't kill me, and the Desians will never stop me. As for the ninjas…well, I won't give up! Sylvarant will be saved!"

Sheena grinned, impressed and astonished yet again by Lloyd's admirable charisma. "Fine. Then good luck. We will meet again soon; you better be ready to fight when the time comes." And with that, Sheena disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Lloyd looked into the sky and yelled, "I will!"

Ohhhh….the plot grows deeper. Sheena and Lloyd both have their doubts, and Sheena is still completely oblivious about the Chosen. Things are only gonna get more heated from here! Thanks to everybody who's reviewed my story so far; "you are the wind beneath my wings."…oh. XO that was a horribly tacky statement.

**REVIEW! plz**


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